Gustavo BORGES

Gustavo Borges is the first Brazilian swimmer to claim more than one Olympic swimming medal. His first one came in 1992, surprisingly finishing between Aleksandr Popov and Matt Biondi in the 100 free. Borges added two more in Atlanta, placing third in the 100 and second in the 200 freestyle. His last medal came in Sydney 2000, a bronze with the Brazilian relay team. Together with Xuxa Scherer, dominated the short freestyle events at the 1993 and 1995 World Short Course Swimming Championships, winning the 4×100 free relay (1993, 1995) and the 200 metre freestyle (1995, 1997), while adding four silvers and two bronzes. Borges also performed on the more prestigious long course World Championships, with two bronzes in 1994 (100 free and 4×100 free relay). Between 1991 and 2003, Borges also dug up 19 medals from the swimming pool at the Pan American Games, a record for Brazilian competitors through 2011. Eight of these were gold medals, of which four in the 4×100 freestyle relay, and two each in the 100 and 200 free. In 1993, the tall Brazilian also held the World Record in the 100 metre freestyle (short-course), and he shared the short-course 4×100 m world record for over six years. Borges, who studied and trained in the US, is married to Spanish butterfly swimmer Bárbara Franco.